Copper and other ores



(No Model.)

v2 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. SPENCE.

FURNAGEFOR ROASTING COPPER AND OTHER GRES.

No. 248,521. Patented Oct. 18,1881.

theme Sterns PATENT rtree.

PETER SPENCE, OF MANCHESTER, COUNTY OF LANCASTER, ENGLAND.

FURNACE FOR ROASTYING COPPER AND OTHER ORES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,521, dated October18, 1881,

Application led August 2, 1881. (No model.) Patented in England December24, 1878.

To all lwhom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER SPENCE, of Manchester, in the county ofLancaster, Great Britain,manufacturingchemist, have invented certainImprovements in Furnaces for Roasting Copper and other Cres, of which-the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of furnaces for roasting ores inwhich a series ot' beds are arranged one above the other, andcommunicate through alternating passages oropenings at the ends ofthebeds, a traveling or reciprocating rake being arranged to propel andagitate the ore on each bed and to successively discharge it from one tothe other.

The object of my invention is to improve the means employed for feedingthe ore to the furnace and for stirring or agitating and propelling theore along the several beds. This object I accomplish by the constructionand arrangement of parts embodied in the roastingfurnace illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows an exterior sideview ot the furnace; Fig. 2, a plan view thereof; and Fig. 3, across-section of one halt' of a double furnace, the other halt beingshown in outside view; but as the two halves ot' this double furnace aremere repetitions of each other, it will only be necessary to describelthe ope-rations of one of them. Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal sectionofthe furnacebeds, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 detached views of the stirringand raking instruments.

I will in the rst place describe the construetion of the furnace-beds,and this will be explained by reference to Fig. 3. At 1 are the walls ofthe furnace, in which are xed projecting lire-clay slabs 2. Upon theseare placed tiles 3, reaching from one side transversely to the other,and each of convenient length, when pnt together longitudinally, tomakethe whole length of the several furnace-beds one above another, sothat each of the said beds is made up by one tile only transversely.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4, the several beds are shown at 3 3a 3b 3C;but each one is not continued unbroken to the end walls of the furnace,there being alternate openings left at 4 5 6 7, and for the present,taking the operation generally, the material, in its ground state,

is delivered at H onto the floor 3, and advancing rakes or plows stir itand subsequently, as I shall hereinafter describe, carry forward aportion ot' the said material and deliver it through the opening 4 ontothe second bed, 3f.

The teeth of the rakes are formed of a triangular section, as shown inthe enlarged detached view, Fig. 7, the apex of the triangle being inthe direction of the motion of such rake longitudinally from end to endof the furnace, the dat sides ofthe teeth ofthe rake being in thedirection in which it is desired to traverse the ore along the bed ofthe furnace. When the rake is advancing in the direction of the pointedpart of the teeth of the rake the ore will be. raked or turned overonly; but when the rakes are being traversed in an opposite direction tothat previonsl y described a certain quantity of the ore will be carriedby the Hat side ofthe teeth ofthe rake alongr the floor of the furnace.

The ground materia] being delivered to the oor 3 at a point, H, theadvancing rakes or plows, by means ot' the angular side of their teeth,stirit, and subsequently, by the flat sides of the said teeth, carryforward a portion of the said material and deliver it through theopening 4 onto the second bed, 3, where the same operations take place,the material now passing down the opening 5 onto the bed 3b, and sothrough any number of a required series of beds, until it is at lastdischarged through the opening 7 into the receptacle 8. There is,however, this remark to be made, that, as the alternate openings in thesuccessive beds are on alternate ends of the furnace, the stirring andconveying instruments must be reversed as regards their faces insucceeding beds, whereby the whole series, by traveling in one directionalternately ou each bed, stir and deliver the material successivelyuntil it reaches the receptacle 8.

The teeth of the rakes are mounted in angle-iron bars 11, provided withrollers 11", which run upon rails 12, carried by the projecting supports2. To each of these anglebars are connected rods 13, attached at theirother ends to aframe or carriage, 14, provided with wheels 15,which runupon rails 16 on the floor, the said rods being supported and guided bygrooved pulleys 17.

To the carriage 14 are Jnxed toothed racks ICO 18, situate outside thefurnace, and supported at their outward ends by rollers 19, and in gearwith these racks are pinions 2() on a shaft, 21, driven bythe motivepower'. Motion being communicated to the shaft 2l, the pinions 20 causethe racks 18 to traverse the frame 14, which, as stated, travels on therails 16, and thus the rods 13 are caused to traverse the rakes orconveyers along the several beds of the furnace. According to thepositions shown in the drawings, the carriage 14 is in its outward, ornearly outward, position, and the fiat ends of the instruments will havedelivered a certain amount of material through the opening 4 onto thebed 3, the same operation having taken place with regard to the openingand bed 3C. The carriage now running inward, the sharp points of theplows will simply stir the material on the beds 3 3b, while the bluntends on the oors 3 will deliver an amount of material through theopening5 onto the bed 3", and at the same time the instruments on the floor 3will pass an amount of completely calcined material into the receptacleS, to be removed at pleasure, and thus the alternate stirrin gs anddeliveries take place at each for\ a rd and backward movement of thecarriage.

I have not hitherto referred to the feeding of the ground material; butI now proceed to describe the means in vented by me for accom plishingthis purpose.

At F is a channel leading to the top floor, 3, and above this channel isa hopper, 20, into which the ground material is from time to time fed.The bottom of this hopper is provided with a sliding plate, 26, formedat its inward end with a ledge, as seen in Fig. 4. This plate isconnected to rods 22, swung upon arms 23, and each having two stops, 2425. According to the position shown, the material rests upon the ledgeof the plate 26, which, when the carriage runs in, is pushed forward byits arrival in contact with the stops 24, and this action delivers acertain amount of material through the channel F. On the return motionof the carriage it arrives in contact with the stops 25 to shift theplate 26 back, and so on for each traverse.

Instead of the plate 26,there maybea winged bottom to the hopper orsimilarly-formed part. The drawings show a double furnace, which is thearrangement I prefer, and the operating parts of each are the same, butit maybe single.

The shaft 21 is connected by means ot' snitable gearing to any source ofmotive power, so that it may be rotated first in one direction and thenin the other, and thereby traverse the rakes alternately from one end ofthe furnace to the other.

The rakes may move continuously; but vI prefer them to remain stationaryperiodically in the position shown in the drawings, as they are thenclear of the material in the furnace, and also out ofthe direct actionof the heat of the furnace, thereby suffering less injury fromcorrosion.

The furnace .as above described does not require the application of anyexternal heat. On starting it is brought to the required temperature bythe introduction of burning wood or other suitable fuel, after which thetemperature is self sustained by the combustion of the materia-l underoperation. By the use ofthe furnace as above described the whole, ornearly the whole, of the copper in cupreouspyrites or other sulphides isconverted into soluble sulphate of copper, which may be placed insuitable vessels and subjected to the action of water forobtainingsulphate of copper in solution, which maybe precipitated, asusual, or manufactured into pure sulphate of copper by removing thesulphate of iron which always accompanies it.

Having thus described the nature of myinvention and the manner ofcarrying the same into effect, l desire it to be understood that Iclaim- 1. The combination, with a roasting-furnace having aseries ofbeds communicating through alternating end openings, and with a seriesof reciprocating raltes, the parallel rods 13 and carriage 14, providedwith the wheels 15, of the hopper 20, sliding' plate 26, rod 22, andstops 24, arranged on said rod and adapted to be struck by the carriagein its movements, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The shaft 2l, provided with end piuions, and the toothed racks 18,traveling on guides outside of the furnace, in combination with thecarriage 14, connected with the racks, the rods 13, and the rakesarranged in the series of chambers in the furnace, substantially as de.scribed, for the purpose set forth.

PETER SLENGE.

Vitnesses JOHN GrLcIlmrs'r,

Boot/i St., Holland St., Manchester. WILLIAM THOMAS GHEETHAM,

18 St. Amts St., Manchester.

IOO

